When does "I'm committed!" mean "I should be committed?"

"I'm committed!"

• To my weight loss program. 
• To my healthy eating. 
• To my exercise and workouts. 

Yippee, you're on the way to changing your body, and your life. It's all peaches and roses now. Right. Except why are people treating you differently now?

• They say you're crazy if you want to get up early to exercise. 
• They say you've gone overboard if you are strict in your nutrition. 
• They say you should be committed when you want to lose the last 10 lbs., even if you've already lost 50 lbs. 

"I should be committed?"

Get ready, your seat belt on and let's go. Welcome to the life of the fit and healthy. There is a new double standard and you better get used to it. Not only do you have to be strong to set your goals for weight loss, follow-through with those goals, but you have to become emotionally tough. Tough enough to put up your "blinders" when you get comments from those around you, even well-meaning or close friends. You don't know why they say it. It doesn't matter.

Hold your hands up in front of you, thumbs facing you. Place your thumbs right under your ears and hold your hands in front of your face. "Blinders".

• You focus on you. You let them focus on whatever.
• You stay strong. You let them falter, if that is going to happen. 
• You be the example. You can't force them to accept your new life. 

Having blinders on doesn't mean that you don't care. It doesn't mean that you are cold-hearted either. It just means that you are COMMITTED. You are going to be tough when it comes to saying "no" to bad food. You are going to workout when you don't feel like it. You are going to change your body even when it gets tough. This is all good. Commitment is good. Don't worry about those who say you are taking it all too seriously. They may have issues you don't know anything about. And even if you do know about those issues, keep it to yourself.

It has become commonplace for unhealthy people to comment or criticize healthy people for the "choices" they make.

Can you imagine if you, as a healthy person, decided to comment on every unhealthy choice someone else makes? Don't. Don't even be tempted. You cannot bully someone into being healthy, just like someone else cannot bully you into faltering. Sometimes, people are afraid of change and the change they see in you. That is their issue, not yours. So, don't let it be yours. Keep your blinders on and stay strong. And committed.